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Journal ArticleDOI

Chronic systemic pesticide exposure reproduces features of Parkinson's disease

01 Dec 2000-Nature Neuroscience (Nature Publishing Group)-Vol. 3, Iss: 12, pp 1301-1306
TL;DR: It is reported that chronic, systemic inhibition of complex I by the lipophilic pesticide, rotenone, causes highly selective nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration that is associated behaviorally with hypokinesia and rigidity.
Abstract: The cause of Parkinson's disease (PD) is unknown, but epidemiological studies suggest an association with pesticides and other environmental toxins, and biochemical studies implicate a systemic defect in mitochondrial complex I. We report that chronic, systemic inhibition of complex I by the lipophilic pesticide, rotenone, causes highly selective nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration that is associated behaviorally with hypokinesia and rigidity. Nigral neurons in rotenone-treated rats accumulate fibrillar cytoplasmic inclusions that contain ubiquitin and alpha-synuclein. These results indicate that chronic exposure to a common pesticide can reproduce the anatomical, neurochemical, behavioral and neuropathological features of PD.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
19 Oct 2006-Nature
TL;DR: Treatments targeting basic mitochondrial processes, such as energy metabolism or free-radical generation, or specific interactions of disease-related proteins with mitochondria hold great promise in ageing-related neurodegenerative diseases.
Abstract: Many lines of evidence suggest that mitochondria have a central role in ageing-related neurodegenerative diseases. Mitochondria are critical regulators of cell death, a key feature of neurodegeneration. Mutations in mitochondrial DNA and oxidative stress both contribute to ageing, which is the greatest risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases. In all major examples of these diseases there is strong evidence that mitochondrial dysfunction occurs early and acts causally in disease pathogenesis. Moreover, an impressive number of disease-specific proteins interact with mitochondria. Thus, therapies targeting basic mitochondrial processes, such as energy metabolism or free-radical generation, or specific interactions of disease-related proteins with mitochondria, hold great promise.

5,368 citations


Cites methods from "Chronic systemic pesticide exposure..."

  • ...This model has since been refined in laboratory animals, in which chronic infusion of rotenon...

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Journal ArticleDOI
11 Sep 2003-Neuron
TL;DR: PD models based on the manipulation of PD genes should prove valuable in elucidating important aspects of the disease, such as selective vulnerability of substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons to the degenerative process.

4,872 citations


Cites background from "Chronic systemic pesticide exposure..."

  • ...…exerts a more widespreadPD. neurotoxicity than originally proposed, challenging theParaquat concept that dopaminergic neurons display preferentialThe herbicide paraquat (N,N -dimethyl-4-4 -bipiridisensitivity to complex I inhibition (Betarbet et al., 2000).nium) also induces a toxic model of PD....

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  • ...…et al., 1992; Varasto rats produces selective degeneration of nigrostriatal tet et al., 1994); this regional pattern is also found in dopaminergic neurons accompanied by -synuclein-posi- MPTP-treated mice (Seniuk et al., 1990; Muthane et al., tive LB-like inclusions (Betarbet et al., 2000)....

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  • ...Chronic infusion of rotenone does produce intraneuronal -synuclein-containing proteinacious aggregates (Betarbet et al., 2000), consistent with the possibility that the speed of intoxication may influence the subsequent neuropathologic features....

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  • ...As noted above, In addition, the use of rotenone in rodents is technicallyparaquat shows structural similarity to MPP (Figure 3) challenging (Betarbet et al., 2000)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article reviews what is known about the prevalence, incidence, risk factors, and prognosis of PD from epidemiological studies and suggests that major gene mutations cause only a small proportion of all cases.
Abstract: The causes of Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, are still largely unknown. Current thinking is that major gene mutations cause only a small proportion of all cases and that in most cases, non-genetic factors play a part, probably in interaction with susceptibility genes. Numerous epidemiological studies have been done to identify such non-genetic risk factors, but most were small and methodologically limited. Larger, well-designed prospective cohort studies have only recently reached a stage at which they have enough incident patients and person-years of follow-up to investigate possible risk factors and their interactions. In this article, we review what is known about the prevalence, incidence, risk factors, and prognosis of PD from epidemiological studies.

3,474 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
21 May 2004-Science
TL;DR: The identification of two homozygous mutations affecting the PINK1 kinase domain in three consanguineous PARK6 families provide a direct molecular link between mitochondria and the pathogenesis of PD.
Abstract: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra We previously mapped a locus for a rare familial form of PD to chromosome 1p36 (PARK6) Here we show that mutations in PINK1 (PTEN-induced kinase 1) are associated with PARK6 We have identified two homozygous mutations affecting the PINK1 kinase domain in three consanguineous PARK6 families: a truncating nonsense mutation and a missense mutation at a highly conserved amino acid Cell culture studies suggest that PINK1 is mitochondrially located and may exert a protective effect on the cell that is abrogated by the mutations, resulting in increased susceptibility to cellular stress These data provide a direct molecular link between mitochondria and the pathogenesis of PD

3,224 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the context of agricultural pest management, botanical insecticides are best suited for use in organic food production in industrialized countries but can play a much greater role in the production and postharvest protection of food in developing countries.
Abstract: Botanical insecticides have long been touted as attractive alternatives to synthetic chemical insecticides for pest management because botanicals reputedly pose little threat to the environment or to human health. The body of scientific literature documenting bioactivity of plant derivatives to arthropod pests continues to expand, yet only a handful of botanicals are currently used in agriculture in the industrialized world, and there are few prospects for commercial development of new botanical products. Pyrethrum and neem are well established commercially, pesticides based on plant essential oils have recently entered the marketplace, and the use of rotenone appears to be waning. A number of plant substances have been considered for use as insect antifeedants or repellents, but apart from some natural mosquito repellents, little commercial success has ensued for plant substances that modify arthropod behavior. Several factors appear to limit the success of botanicals, most notably regulatory barriers and the availability of competing products (newer synthetics, fermentation products, microbials) that are cost-effective and relatively safe compared with their predecessors. In the context of agricultural pest management, botanical insecticides are best suited for use in organic food production in industrialized countries but can play a much greater role in the production and postharvest protection of food in developing countries.

2,996 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
27 Jun 1997-Science
TL;DR: A mutation was identified in the α-synuclein gene, which codes for a presynaptic protein thought to be involved in neuronal plasticity, in the Italian kindred and in three unrelated families of Greek origin with autosomal dominant inheritance for the PD phenotype.
Abstract: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder with a lifetime incidence of approximately 2 percent. A pattern of familial aggregation has been documented for the disorder, and it was recently reported that a PD susceptibility gene in a large Italian kindred is located on the long arm of human chromosome 4. A mutation was identified in the α-synuclein gene, which codes for a presynaptic protein thought to be involved in neuronal plasticity, in the Italian kindred and in three unrelated families of Greek origin with autosomal dominant inheritance for the PD phenotype. This finding of a specific molecular alteration associated with PD will facilitate the detailed understanding of the pathophysiology of the disorder.

7,387 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
09 Apr 1998-Nature
TL;DR: Mutations in the newly identified gene appear to be responsible for the pathogenesis of Autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism, and the protein product is named ‘Parkin’.
Abstract: Parkinson's disease is a common neurodegenerative disease with complex clinical features1. Autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism (AR-JP)2,3 maps to the long arm of chromosome 6 (6q25.2-q27) and is linked strongly to the markers D6S305 and D6S253 (ref. 4); the former is deleted in one Japanese AR-JP patient5. By positional cloning within this microdeletion, we have now isolated a complementary DNA clone of 2,960 base pairs with a 1,395-base-pair open reading frame, encoding a protein of 465 amino acids with moderate similarity to ubiquitin at the amino terminus and a RING-finger motif at the carboxy terminus. The gene spans more than 500 kilobases and has 12 exons, five of which (exons 3–7) are deleted in the patient. Four other AR-JP patients from three unrelated families have a deletion affecting exon 4 alone. A 4.5-kilobase transcript that is expressed in many human tissues but is abundant in the brain, including the substantia nigra, is shorter in brain tissue from one of the groups of exon-4-deleted patients. Mutations in the newly identified gene appear to be responsible for the pathogenesis of AR-JP, and we have therefore named the protein product ‘Parkin’.

4,922 citations


"Chronic systemic pesticide exposure..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Rare cases of familial PD have been linked to mutations in α-synuclein or parki...

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Journal ArticleDOI
25 Feb 1983-Science
TL;DR: It is proposed that this chemical selectively damages cells in the substantia nigra in patients who developed marked parkinsonism after using an illicit drug intravenously.
Abstract: Four persons developed marked parkinsonism after using an illicit drug intravenously. Analysis of the substance injected by two of these patients revealed primarily 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) with trace amounts of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-4-propionoxy-piperidine (MPPP). On the basis of the striking parkinsonian features observed in our patients, and additional pathological data from one previously reported case, it is proposed that this chemical selectively damages cells in the substantia nigra.

4,705 citations


"Chronic systemic pesticide exposure..." refers background in this paper

  • ...After the pro-toxin N-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) was reported to produce in humans an acute parkinsonian syndrome that is virtually indistinguishable from idiopathic P...

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results indicated a specific defect of Complex I activity in the substantia nigra of patients with Parkinson's disease, which adds further support to the proposition that Parkinson’s disease may be due to an environmental toxin with action(s) similar to those of MPTP.
Abstract: The structure and function of mitochondrial respiratory-chain enzyme proteins were studied postmortem in the substantia nigra of nine patients with Parkinson's disease and nine matched controls. Total protein and mitochondrial mass were similar in the two groups. NADH-ubiquinone reductase (Complex I) and NADH cytochrome c reductase activities were significantly reduced, whereas succinate cytochrome c reductase activity was normal. These results indicated a specific defect of Complex I activity in the substantia nigra of patients with Parkinson's disease. This biochemical defect is the same as that produced in animal models of parkinsonism by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and adds further support to the proposition that Parkinson's disease may be due to an environmental toxin with action(s) similar to those of MPTP.

2,266 citations